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Safety and complications of percutaneous tracheostomy in a cohort of 800 mixed ICU patients
Article first published online: 20 AUG 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2008.05606.x
© 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland
Additional Information
How to Cite
Díaz-Regañón, G., Miñambres, E., Ruiz, A., González-Herrera, S., Holanda-Peña, M. and López-Espadas, F. (2008), Safety and complications of percutaneous tracheostomy in a cohort of 800 mixed ICU patients. Anaesthesia, 63: 1198–1203. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2008.05606.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 9 OCT 2008
- Article first published online: 20 AUG 2008
- Accepted: 7 May 2008
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Summary
Percutaneous tracheostomy is used primarily to assist weaning from mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit. We report our experiences of 800 such procedures performed in the intensive care unit by a collaborative team (critical care and ENT specialists). Most procedures (85.6%) were performed by residents supervised by the intensive care unit staff. Complications occurred in 32 patients (4%). Intraprocedural complications occurred in 17 patients (2.1%), early postprocedural complications in six (0.75%), and late postprocedural complications in nine (1.1%). No deaths were directly related to percutaneous tracheostomy. The incidence of complications was greater in percutaneous tracheostomy performed by the residents during their initial five attempts compared to their later attempts (9.2% vs 2.6%, p < 0.05). The low incidence of complications indicates that bedside percutaneous tracheostomy can be performed safely as a routine procedure in daily care of intensive care unit patients.